SOLD OUT

Black Friday the Right Way

If the words "Black Friday" make you want to barricade yourself in the house with a jug of hot toddies and Netflix on demand, you can hardly be blamed. As dozens of store-riot YouTube videos can attest, America can get pretty ugly when there are good deals on flat screens at stake. But outside the mania of the malls and big boxes, small groups of likeminded retailers are banding together for their own version of the biggest shopping day of the year, bound to prove that it doesn't have to get ugly.

Clean Up at the Cleaners promises to be anything but. A collaboration between shops and designers, everything for sale will be under $100. Look for jewelry by AK Vintage and Better Late Than Never, plus a "sample sale blowout" of Sword + Fern pieces under $50. Sword + Fern designer (and owner of the E Burnside store of the same name) Emily Baker also promises "vintage oddities and special trinkets, some ceramics, possibly a couple of plants in special planters." Longtime Portland designer Emily Katz will offer $30 embroidered ties and pieces from her past collections, including one-of-a-kinds and her popular raincoats, as well as a skirt design that was later picked up by Anthropologie.

Neighboring store Frances May will have tons of great stocking stuffer ideas like nail polish, jewelry, socks, and wallets, plus T-shirts, sweaters, pants, and dresses. Eastside shop Frank James will offer Baron Wells ties normally priced $85-110 for $50, and OLO Fragrance is offering a four-bottle sampler for $30 in addition to discounted individual scents. Plus, a bar and free gift-wrapping for the weary shopper, you. Clean Up at the Cleaners, The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel, 403 SW 10th, Fri Nov 26, noon-6 pm

All of the stores involved in the Clean Up are open for business at their regular locations too, with storewide discounts going all day. And Frances May is just one of the West End retailers who've committed to knocking 15 percent off of everything. The others—Radish Underground, Covet, Narcisse, Flora, and Tender Loving Empire—are all just a few steps away, and between them all you should be able to find something for everyone. Radish Underground's Gina Morris suggests an Alchemy Goods Dopp kit made from a recycled truck inner tube and the candles she makes upstairs in the shop. Flora's Jewelie Randall has tons of ideas, including color pencils and botanical nests for kids, and Tender Loving Empire is a goldmine for music and reading materials, as well as kinetic sculpture sailboats and friendly plush monsters. Ideas abound: Hit up mod.portlandmercury.com for more gift suggestions from local shops, plus events, news, eye candy, and more.